Monday, August 30, 2010

Madison and Jason had a BIG weekend while Tyler and I were in GA. Every time I called home to check on them he was on his way with her somewhere new... I told him that she may be just fine with me never coming home.

Jason wasted no time. Right after he dropped me off at the airport they headed to the Children's Museum.

If she finds a kitchen.. she will play in it. I wonder if she'll be a great cook like my dad!

Jason said it was a very quick game of checkers...

I'm pretty sure this is not legal...

Jason took Madison home for a nap and then dinner at Gattiland...

notice all the carbs and cheese on her plate??? NO GREENS??

and dessert...

The balloon popped before they got out of the parking lot. She was not thrilled...

Saturday... SEAWORLD!

I was a little jealous.. I wanted to go too. However, after seeing these photos I'm so glad I didn't. Tyler would have not been able to handle the heat. August in San Antonio.. need I say more?

asleep with her new killer whale...

Sunday's line up??? Krispy Kreme donuts fresh and hot off the line... and then??

The circus..

and no this is not an outfit. It does not go together.. it may look it to you, but trust me.. it doesn't.

BUT.. that makes it even more special because daddy dressed her all by himself and even put two sweet barrettes in her hair.

Before the show she got to see all the animals and clowns and acrobats and... the list goes on. Jason said she was way more interested in the free bag of marshmallows.. are you picking up a theme to their weekend??

Here she is eating her hot dog while watching the show. Jason took a ton of video and I swear in every one she is munching on this hot dog!!!

OR the cotton candy that came in this magic hat! (If you look closely you can see blue sticky gunk on the corner of her mouth.)

So after all that you would think Madison could live without me... However, as I was descending the escalator into baggage claim I could see her sweet face and she was jumping up and down screaming "I GOT YOU FLOWERS MAMA!! I GOT YOU FLOWERS!!!" She grabbed them from Jason and ran to me as I got to the bottom. I knelt down in front of her with Tyler in the Bjorn and she kissed us both and asked me.. "BOO-TI-FUL?" "Yes Madison, they are BEAUTIFUL!"

Thursday, August 26, 2010

This is what the Lightscoop (aka "Poor Mama's Speedlight") looks like on your SLR. It's really easy to set up. They will send you instructions with your Lightscoop and a link via e-mail directing you to a video on their website. It's really a no-brainer. You don't have to figure out the settings for yourself.

A lot of you asked me if I had the "standard" Lightscoop or the "warming." I personally chose the standard.

Here is another photo using the flash in the first and the Lightscoop in the second. In my post "Poor Mama's Speedlight" I took the photos in the late evening in my playroom. I took these photos in the late afternoon. I had natural light coming in, but not enough to get crisp pictures without my flash. This is definitely the situation I find myself in the most when trying to take pictures of my kids.

(Madison has taken a special liking to my 30 year old doll. When we moved to Texas I was going through a box and she saw this doll and for some reason it is her favorite.)

2. "Like" Lightscoop's Facebook page AND leave a comment on their page detailing what you would like to take better pictures of using the Lightscoop. Then leave me a comment saying you did so.

3. Post about this giveaway on your blog and link back to mine. Then leave me a comment with a link to your post.

So if you do all three things above you will leave me three separate comments giving you three entries!

You have until Wednesday, September 1st to enter. I will pick the winner using random.org on Thursday September, 2nd. This is sponsored by Lightscoop.com and I will put you in touch with the sponsor so you can give your information directly to them.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

My brother, Mack, turned 30. His wife, Caitlin, planned a surprise party for him so Tyler and I flew back to Georgia to surprise him.

Of course I dressed him in his airplane romper for the flight. He was exhausted by the time we got to my parents house. Everyone wanted to love on him though.

His cousins were so excited to see him. (This was after Tyler had some rest!)

This IS my brother in the photo!! He had an 80's themed party at his house a few months ago and this is what he looked like. I laugh every time a see a picture from that party. He grew a goatee and shaved it down to a mustache just for the party. Caitlin put this together for his cake!

There was really no way to hide the cars at his house so we all hung out in the drive way waiting for him to show up. It's so humid in Macon that you'll break a sweat just stepping outside. Tyler was not a fan at all. Since I was holding Tyler I wasn't able to get any photos of him arriving. (He had NO IDEA... he was less than thrilled to be showing up to a house full of people in his "Grill Sargent" t-shirt and five o'clock shadow!")

This picture cracks me up.. He's noticing his cake for the first time..

I love this picture of my dad. He is looking at an old photo of he and my brother from almost 30 years ago.. he hadn't seen the photo in years...

I'm a cake girl.. I can pass up almost any dessert, but I can't pass up cake. I was so excited for him to just blow out the candles!!

We all call Mack the "Pied Piper." He is so loved by his nieces and nephews. Madison would have been right in the middle and pushing all the other kids out of the way if she were there.

Tyler needed a nap something awful during the party. I took him back to their room and put him down in the middle of the bed.

He's smiling at my mom as she tells him "good night." Even when he's tired he's sweet! Swaddling is a new thing. I swear he didn't care to be swaddled as a newborn. Recently, he kept waking up in the middle of his naps so Jason swaddled him without telling me. He LOVES it and will sleep for the entire nap time. I call him my little glowworm!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

I love my camera (Nikon D80). I have really enjoyed getting to know it over the past few years. I feel like I have come a long way and can take a decent picture outside in the natural light. However, I struggle with inside photos. They come out just plain old yucky. I took a very small camera class (literally 3 hours) and gave the instructor my worst case scenario. I'm inside (bad lighting), my infant is in his swing (movement), and he's sucking his thumb for the first time and I want a clear photo of the whole scene. Now how do I set my camera to get a good shot without using the flash? Her answer... "No way.. you have to use your flash." I seem to find myself in that type of situation a lot with my kids.

I noticed my friend, Jennifer, was getting great shots inside and it didn't seem to have that "flash" look. She told me she was using a lightscoop. I bought one that day. It's a $30 gadget that fits on your camera and softens the flash.

I took the first photo WITH the lightscoop and the second with just my flash.

I can't believe I have not heard of this before! It does take a second to set your camera up to use it, but obviously not too long because Tyler stayed happy on his tummy long enough for me to do it!
I wish I had known about this sooner!

Before you run off and buy one of your own.. I'm going to be doing a giveaway for one in the next few days!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

It was time... Madison had a trim right after her second birthday, but it was time to get a cut. She has baby hair and baby fine hair at that. When Jason got home from work yesterday I loaded her up in the car and took her to get a style while Jason stayed home with Tyler...

She chose a vehicle to sit in, a sucker to suck on, and a show to watch on TV. I think we could have given her a root canal and she would have tolerated it.

I'm really hoping she out grows this lovey smile she has started to give me over and